Supporting and reducing device



' Aug. 6, 1940. c, KElTH 2,210,244

SUPPORTING AND REDUCING DEVICE Filed Dec. 8, 1938 IINVENTOR:

I M42120 6? A2727;

AT NEY reduction of the adipose accumulations about the hips, abdomen and buttocks.

Additional objects, advantages and features of invention reside in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts involved in the embodiment of the invention, as will be understood from the following description and accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a womans support embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a similar view of a mans garment.

Figure 3 is a detail of the tension strap terminals.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of a patient wearing my garment.

There is illustrated a garment in Figure 2, which may be extended as a flat belt, as a whole, including a back section I0, to one end of which there is removably and adjustab ly attached and continued a front section I I, the attachment bell'lg extensible selectively at a multiplicity of "points' Each of the sections consists of a body sheet of coutil, or other appropriate fabric so woven and arranged as to adopt it to accommodate itself to the various contours, and to varying contours as the article is adjusted, as will appear.

The mans appliance is of lesser height than the womans, ordinarily, and in the present instance the back section of the mans garment of Figure 2 has a height of approximately ten inches, while the normal womans garment has a height of sixteen inches in the back section.

These measurements may of course be varied to suit special uses.

' formed slightly frusto-triangular, having rectilinear and edges convergent downwardly and provided with reinforced edgings l3 of surgical tape of substantial width. A series of horizontal tension tapes [4 are stitched at their top and bottom edges to the body fabric by lines .of stitching extending throughout the length of the tapes. At each end, each of these tapes is provided with a buckle I5 stopping within and lying over the edgings !3, to which the ends of the tapes are also stitched. In the mans garment the tapes M are one inch wide and the spaces therebetween are approximately one-quarter of an inch wide vertically. In the middle of the back section there are shown three flexible bones or truss stays l6, which may be of whale bone, or metal, or composition customarily used for the purpose. One

of these is vertical and located at the symmetrical center of the section, while the other two are spaced from the middle one on each side and nearly or quite parallel thereto, though preferably slightly convergent upwardly. These are each encased as usual in taping which is stitched at each side of the bones, throughout their lengths and at their ends.

The back section thus described in one embodiment has eight of the tension tapes l4, uniformly spaced from top to bottom, and is of a length to cover a little more than the comparatively flat part of the back of the wearer, so that when the complete garment is adjusted in place on the person, the junctions of the back It] and front section I! are at the extreme sides of the wearer. I

The front section is of similar vertical extent at each end and has a corresponding number of tapes numbered from 2i to 28 consecutively, beginning at the bottom, each of which is formed with tongues 29 insertable through respective opposed buckles of the back section II] for securewhich their thickness is inconsiderable, and at present they are of the slide-wedge type formed of sheet metal, and adapted to engage the tapes with infinite adjustability.

The body coutil or other body fabric 30 of the front section is shaped in the mans garment so that its lower edge may rise over the hips, and its central part extended downward slightly again, where it lies over the 0s pubis. This forms two recesses 3| at each side, with the central downward projection 32. The two tapes 22 and 23 next above the bottom one 2| are very short and extend only from the ends of the extremities of the section to the edges of the respective adjacent recesses 3|. The ends of the section are reinforced as in the first section by suitable tapes 33, which however, may be narrower than those of the back section. The edges of the recesses 3| are of such shape as to conform as nearly as possible to the boundaries of the sacroiliac .region. The three intermediate tapes described in this section extend throughout its length, and at each end of the section a supplementary vertical narrow tape 34 is provided)- the extremities of the tongues 23 may be ill-.

serted after being sufficiently taken up in the buckles I5. I Y

The two uppermost tapes 21 and 28 and the coutil 33 are interrupted at the middle of the belt and an area of elastic fabric 35 is set in the section and secured to the adjacent ends of the tapes and edge portions of the coutil 30, so that the top edge portionof the section has a measure of elasticity for longitudinal extension and contraction, the junctions of the elastic and tapes a and coutil 33 at each side being suitably reinforced, as by tape 36.

The vertical stays 31 are provided centrally in the front section, extending the full height,

and may be of material similar to that in the stays it, and similarly secured.

The two bottom tension tapes 2| of this section are extended as straps from the ends of the section across the recesses 3! to the pubic extension 32, and have buckles at their extremi-u:

ties receiving strap tongues 38 attached to the extension 32, I I

When this device is worn, the straps2l are drawn over the hips sufficiently to cause the parts 2|, 22, and 23 to press inward properly over the kidneys at the back of the wearer. If desired, these straps may be passed under the crotch, serving to compress the extension 32 around the os pubis, which may be found advantageous in inguinal, pubic, and adjacent hernias.

In such case the strap may be made round and rubber covered, if desired.-

- The tongues 29 are engaged as indicated and drawn up individually, each to the proper extent required for the particular parts under the re:

spective tension tapes l4 and 24 to 28 inclusive. In this latter adjustment, it should be noted that by taking up equally on two tongues 29 at the same level on opposite sides, apressure maybe applied locally at front and rear, and in the case of hyphosis this would exert a corrective effect, especially when adjacent'tension tapes are correlatively adjusted. For specific lordosis an opposite adjustment is effected, the upper and lower tension elements being adjusted to effect the supporting function while those immediately over the concavity of the spine may be adjusted slightly looser, and so an effect obtained tending to straighten the back. In the case of lateral organs requiring support only on one side of the body, it will be appreciated that if instead of an equal take-up on the tongues 29 on both sides at a given level, all on one side are adjusted to a uniform tension, While on the other side, at the level of the organ requiring special support the respective tongue or tongues are taken up more at those above and below, a local higher compression will be effected. Similarly, in cases of scoliosis, a straightening effect may be effected by an adjustment similar to that last described, except that the tongues 29 opposed to those tightened specially at one side would be loosened,

these latter being in the direction of concavity,v

while the tightened ones would be at the side toward which convexity is apparent.

Considering Figure 1, the womans garment is formed with ten tension tapes M in the back section ill, which is otherwise similar to the one first described, except that it is slightly narrower at the top than at the bottom while the corresponding section of the mans garment is Wider at the top than at the bottom, as described.

In the front section II of the womans garment there are also four horizontal tension tapes 40 extending throughout the'length of the sec tion, two upper ones 4! at each end and being interrupted at the middle by an elastic 35' applied as in the mans garment, while at the lower edge portion there are four tension tapes 42 at each side joined to a central elastic fabric 43 of slightly greater height than the piece 35' similarly set in, and extending from the bottom edge of the garment upward to the fourth tape from the bottom. Two vertical stays 44 corresponding to those at the middle of the front section of the mans garment, extend only from the upper edge of the elastic 43 to the top edge of the garment.

The front section of the womans garment is not ordinarily recessed at each side as in the mans garment, but is centrally recessed as at 45, by inclining upwardly from the ends the lowermost tension tapes 42.

This garment is constructed otherwise the same as first described, with the exception of possible modification of the upper edge contour, making the garment of less altitude in front than at the side, the top edge being lowered slightly at the middle. If desired, in both the mans and the womans garments, a reinforcing tape 46 ex tending from top to bottom tension tapes may be attached to all the tongues 29, and spaced a short distance from the vertical reinforcement 33 'before described.

The tongues 29 preferably have their outer ends each folded on a diagonal line and stitched down to form a thickened point 41, which will facilitate insertion of the tongues in the buckles and retaining loops and prevent complete withdrawal of the ends of the tongues accidentally. The same size of horizontal tension tapes may be employed in the womans garment as are used in the mans garment, but a wider spacing between these tapes may be employed in the womans garment.

This garment may be used and adjusted for corrective uses as in the cases first described applicable to women, and for special uses common to woman.

The devices are adapted to steady the relative positions of the sacrum and parts supported thereon and adjacent. By reason of the nature of the body material 30, each horizontally alined series of tension tapes may accommodate itself in a measure to the general contour of'the body by translation bodily fore and aft in a horizontal plane relatively to the next adjacent tape, as shown in Figure 4, moderately opposed by the stays I6, 31 and 44.

It will be understood that while I have described the specific form of invention, various changes in the construction and arrangement and form of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claim, and I do not regard the invention as limited to the particular construction disclosed except as defined in the said claim.

It should be noted that while the coutil permits the limited translational relative movements of the several horizontal series of tension tapes, little such displacement relatively is required to accommodate the garment to the form as shown in Figure 4, and the coutil will oppose such displacement increasingly so that excessive curves will be prevented.

It should also be noted that the stays will also prevent excessive bending in a fore-and-aft direction, and will be substantially rigid to lateral bending, so that the corrective effects described are facilitated.

Hose supporters 48 of conventional form may be provided on the garment as desired.

I claim:

An article of the character described comprising a partly yielding, flexible supporting body sheet, a multiplicity of horizontal series of tension tapes carried thereon, each series adapted to encircle a body, means to vary the tension of MILDRED C. KEITH. 

